Nkomo fingered in land row gun attack

Nkomo fingered in land row gun attack

LAND ROW: Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo accused

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By Lindie Whiz
Posted to the web: 11/05/2009 18:43:04
A LAND row pitting Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo and Matabeleland businessman Langton Masunda turned bloody last Saturday night when a man was shot and wounded, Masunda says by Nkomo’s hired assassins.

Masunda’s brother is recovering at Bulawayo’s Mater Dei hospital after suffering gunshot wounds following the attack at the Jijima Lodge in the Gwayi safari area just after 11PM.

Nkomo has been trying to prise the lodge from Masunda for the last five years, despite SIX court judgments going against him.

Brian Masunda, speaking for the family, said: “There were 14 guys lining up to kill my brother but they got the wrong one. Thank God he will be fine.”

The family is pointing an accusing finger at Nkomo, who is alleged to have hired 14 new farm labourers “paid US$250 before they started work” at his farm which lies some 14km from Masunda’s 611.79 hectare safari lodge.

Matabeleland North police said they were investigating the shooting, but a spokesman would not confirm the arrest of a man named Skonki, alleged by the family to be the shooter.

The Masunda family spokesman said Langton had just arrived at the lodge with his two brothers when gun shots were fired at his lookalike brother who had gone for a wee.

The brothers dragged their wounded sibling to the car and sped off.

“Along the way, they were being shot at. It appears this was a well-coordinated ambush and dovetails nicely with Nkomo’s mysterious new recruits that we understand were brought down from his security firm in Bulawayo.”

Brian Masunda said he saw the shooters as “victims too”. “Because of their poverty, they are being used to kill someone.”

Nkomo, a Minister of State in the President’s Office, was unavailable to comment on Monday.

He has been trying to seize control of the sprawling lodge which was allocated to Masunda during the land reform programme.

After getting former Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa to withdraw Masunda’s offer letter, Nkomo suffered a reversal at the High Court with four judges ruling against him.
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